Suspicious WerFault Masquerade Executing From Non-System Path Linked to Turla Snake

PremiumReviewedSigma · High · v1
Product
windows
Category
process_creation
Author
HuntRule
Published
2026-10-03
Updated
2026-10-03

ATT&CK techniques

Defense Evasion
  1. Recon

  2. Resource Dev

  3. Initial Access

  4. Execution

  5. Persistence

  6. Priv Esc

  7. Cred Access

  8. Discovery

  9. Lateral Movement

  10. Collection

  11. C2

  12. Exfiltration

  13. Impact

What it detects

This rule detects a process named WerFault.exe running from a directory other than System32 or SysWOW64, a masquerading technique used by Turla Snake malware which hides in the WinSxS tree. The legitimate Windows Error Reporting binary only runs from system directories, so a WerFault image outside them is a high-confidence indicator of this masquerade and service abuse.

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Suspicious WerFault Masquerade Executing From Non-System Path Linked to Turla Snake
Pivot detection · T1036.005 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.